Cebu City Council asks mayor to declare true state of health

Edgardo Labella

CEBU CITY—For the second time, the Cebu City council has asked Mayor Edgardo Labella to appear even outside a formal session so they would know his real health status.

The city council passed a resolution on Sept. 29 inviting Labella to its regular session on Oct. 6 to assure the public that the mayor was still in control of the city’s affairs.

Acting Mayor Michael Rama earlier said on Friday that he kept on texting and calling Labella but never got a response from the mayor.

“As I take the baton of leadership from Mayor Labella, City Hall continues to operate and do what ought to be done for the welfare of the constituency,” he said.

While Labella is on medical leave—his seventh for the year—Rama performs all the functions and duties of the mayor in an acting capacity but does not have the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss employees, which could only be done if the mayor’s temporary absence exceeds 30 working days.

Labella, thus far, has not filed absences exceeding 30 working days.

Transparency needed

In August, Councilor Franklyn Ong requested Labella to meet the councilors but the mayor failed to show up during the session.

Businessman Crisologo Saavedra Jr., on Sept. 8 formally requested the city council to replace Labella with Rama.

“People now are clamoring for transparency on what is happening in Cebu. It is not because they want Labella to die. In fact, they want Labella to rest so he will survive,” Saavedra then said.

Role of succession

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Cebu City chief Ian Kenneth Lucero, who was asked to appear before the council on Sept. 29, said only a court could decide if Labella was still fit to function as chief executive.

He said the DILG central office previously declared that if a local official filed a leave of absence for health reasons, “the role of succession will now be properly applied, whether referring to permanent or temporary vacancy.”

Lucero said the problem would arise if the sick official would not resign or file a leave of absence, and insist to continue to hold office when his physical or mental sickness would no longer allow him to do so.

Ear infection to stroke

Labella first took a three-day medical leave in January 2021 after he got an ear infection. On May 31, he requested to take a three-day leave after he was hospitalized for “slight pneumonia.”

On June 9, he took a three-week medical leave to fully recover from sepsis or blood infection. On July 14, he went on a three-day leave due to “persistent cough.” He later extended his leave until Aug. 18.The mayor’s sixth leave was from Sept. 2 to Sept. 7 but he did not return to his City Hall office and instead opted to work from home starting on Sept. 8.On Sept. 20, he took another leave until Oct. 7, again for health reasons. No specific medical condition was disclosed.

Labella’s son Jaypee earlier confirmed that his father suffered a mild stroke while being hospitalized in August.

According to Jaypee, his father’s speech and lower extremities were affected but that the mayor was already in “good shape and in the process of recovering.”